Years later, Europeans established colonies in the coastal areas.

Historical distinctions also remain between central highlanders and coastal people.

Salt marshes are coastal wetlands that are flooded and drained by salt water brought in by the tides.

Algiers is a coastal city.

Blackpool is a coastal town.

The polar caps partially melted and the sea level rose about a metre, so that more than a billion people on coastal areas had to be evacuated.

The coastal ecosystem of British Columbia is rapidly declining.

The Administration is also taking steps to protect coastal communities from the impacts of climate change, improve domestic aquaculture, and provide research to better understand the challenges facing our oceans.

More than 50% of Americans – 164 million people – live in coastal counties, with 1.2 million added each year. Humans have heavily altered the coastal environment through development, changes in land use, and overexploitation of resources. Now, the changing climate is imposing additional stresses.

Around the world, invasive species are a major threat to many coastal ecosystems and the benefits they provide, from food to clean water. Attitudes among scientists are evolving, however, as more research demonstrates that they occasionally carry a hidden upside.